The Morning After (Book Club and Spring Snow)

Book Club - set up for 13. (I was going to stay in the kitchen or something.)

Whew! I survived another book club event.

I couldn't get to sleep last night after all the stress of the evening, so after some TV time I played a few lightning rounds with WWF (in bed) trying to bore myself into slumber ... but that game is actually fast and stimulating!

 But it's all good. It's over for another year. Next year: Pizza. Delivered!

If you had to host 14 non-family members for dinner, wouldn't you stress just a little?  Not everything was perfectly executed, but the food was good and the husband-led discussion was interesting enough. They were all gracious ... but they always are. I have to believe things are tasty and that the book is interesting, and then my conscience is clear. Actually, one couple cancelled on the day of. I took one of those mid-century Danish teak Eva chairs out of the above photo, and there was room for all. Actually, the cancellation was a permanent one, and we are back to an even dozen.

All events and church services were cancelled on the morning of book club, due to icy roads, but by afternoon the ice and snow had turned to slush and a snow plow or two had come roaring down our street. 250,000 homes in Michigan lost electricity, but this time we were spared!

I had moved almost all the over-wintering plants from the sun room. (It is my greenhouse!) I hope they survive in the cold garage for a month until they can be set outside again. M. picked up her Boston fern that I "babysat" for 7 weeks while she gallivanted around in warmer climes. I thought it might freeze in the garage with the "spring" storm descending upon us and urged her to pick it up.

Also, I had Modernistic shampoo the carpets. The old Berber was surprisingly well revived with the 220+ degree steam extraction, except for a couple of deep old spots. It desperately needed to be cleaned and this was a good time for a spring cleaning, even if it was just before a slush storm.

E. wanted to make shepherd's pie. We ended up making massive amounts--and have delicious leftovers. The peeling, boiling and smashing of the potatoes late afternoon was the messiest part. The sauce had been fried (3-1/2 pounds of ground beef) and simmered in a big pot for a few hours on Saturday night, and had been set in the cold garage overnight, to be heated again before assembly. I made a simple Caesar salad and bought two very special pies (cherry berry and rhubarb/peach), served with vanilla ice cream.

The husband was good for something. He re-read the book, tidied his TV table, peeled 15 pounds of potatoes--flinging the peelings onto an old bath towel on the floor (while watching the golf tournament), and agreed to take his shoes off in the entryway! I will compost the potato peelings (still towel-wrapped in the garage) as soon as the SNOW MELTS IN THE BACKYARD.

Yes, it was the husband's turn to pick a book. He chose an old classic, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Our yellowed copy was published in 1963. I don't know when it was written, but not until Khrushchev's time was it allowed out of the country. Three out of 12 clubbers, surprisingly, had studied Russian history in college and knew something of the Stalinist regime that led to the formation of the work camps, which the author himself survived for 8 years, providing him with the knowledge needed to write about, with excruciating detail, all the atrocities of that one single day in the life of Ivan. Several clubbers said that every time they read the book they felt chilled. I know I would not have survived that camp. I probably would have given up in one day (the first day!), curling up in a snowbank for a long cold sleep.

Anyway, as I type, the third and final load of dishes is quietly sloshing in my Bosch. I am attempting to keep the house tidy for at least one day. The husband asked if he still had to remove his shoes for another day. I said, yes, UNTIL THIS "WINTER" SNOW MELTS!